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My mom, Esther, and I are relaxing in the living room of my parents’ home while Esther’s children, Isabel and Aidan, run, giggle, and play around and with us. Isabel is directing us in a sing-along, complete with standing, jumping, hand motions, and singing at the top of our lungs. Any moderate participation is unacceptable. Aidan is accompanying us with a djembe drum beat of his own composition that every so often, by chance, coordinates with the tempo we are singing. When a song ends, Isabel and Aidan both clap eagerly, laughing and smiling at our joint accomplishment. Then Isabel stands, thinking, staring at the floor, stumped while trying to recall yet another song from her three-year old repertoire.
Sometimes she remembers one and says,
“Okay, now we are going to sing….” and the name of the song. Sometime she can’t think of one, and Esther helps her out,
“What about….”
“Yeah!!!” Isabel replies, and we sing it. Eventually we sing through most of the songs she knows: Deep and Wide, I’m in the Lord’s Army, Happy Birthday, The ABCs, The B-I-B-L-E, and several others.
Finally we seem to have exhausted her instant song file, and there is a pause. Then with a hop and a giggle, Isabel says,
“I know! Joy! We aw goin to sing yow favowite song!”
“Really? We are? What is my favorite song?”
“You know, yow favowite song. Da one you sing ebwee night befow you doe to sweep!” I pressed my lips together, trying to suppress a laugh. Since Isabel sings songs every night before she goes to sleep, it makes complete sense that the rest of the world does too.
“What is my favorite song, Isabel?”
“You knooow, ‘Joy, joy, joy, down in my hawt…’ “ Oh right. I knew that. Of course that’s my favorite song, how could I forget? It’s been sung to me by three year olds and seventy year olds, friends and foes, strangers and family members alike ever since I can remember. People never tire of this stuff. Really though, as far as my favorite song goes, it’s a toss up between “Joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,” “Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy”, and “Joy to the World”. My only consolation is that I’m sure I’ll hear them enough in my lifetime to eventually settle on my favorite after all.